27.12.12

I want what's best for me and I think I know what that means

Under the skin, against the skull
They put a little chip so they know it all
I think I might be scared
Of the world and the way it makes you feel afraid
And how it gets in the way

And now I want brimstone in my garden
I want roses set on fire
And I, well I want what's best for me
And I, I think I know just what that means
Just what that means

23.12.12

Top 10 Albums of 2012, Pt. I

With 2012 quickly coming to a close, I threw together a quick top-10 list of my favourite albums from the past year. This is Part I.

22.12.12

Pretending I'm a superman

I'm approaching an odd point in my life where I truly do not know what is next for me.

19.12.12

Rotten things that live in our shadows

For any athlete or relatively active person, there are few things that can be worse than a debilitating injury.

17.12.12

Daydream near a stream with a winter bite

I'm not really sure that I believe "true love" exists in the way that so many people define it.

10.12.12

We could reignite like fireflies

It's days like that today that remind me no matter how bitter I am, music will always be there to pick me up. 

20.11.12

29.10.12

Rain

Is it you or just the notion of your heart to wrap around so I can find my way around?

Shameless de-plugging?

I've decided to hold back on the social media shameless plugging that I do here.

18.8.12

Don't listen to a word I say...

My time in Toronto is coming to a close. My last day at the mag was yesterday and I fly out on Thursday.

11.8.12

What I've become...

Been a long time since I had a solid Third Eye Blind session.

As much as I have tons to say, I don't wanna talk. I'm just gonna let the music speak for me.

This one's a fighter

Lovin' this album more and more each day...

7.8.12

Up in flames...

It really is disappointing and heartbreaking when something special goes up in flames... for no known reason...

6.8.12

When you awake, a new tomorrow

It's amazing when you have that epiphany that allows you to pick yourself up off the ground and move on to something better.

Just a passenger...

I'm in this weird place right now. I really need to write but for the past few days have struggled immensely to focus on what I need to write about.

Yet, here I am spilling my own personal thoughts on to a page without a problem at all. In fact, over the past few days I've dropped quite a few more entries than I have in a long time.

5.8.12

Dreamed of paradise...

I've always dreamed of laying down roots along the sunny shores of southern California's Pacific coast. 

There is something about living in a small, quiet coastal town that I have always wanted to experience.

Perhaps it's the fact that it would be an entire world apart from everything I've known. Perhaps it would be the kiss of the warm California sunshine. Perhaps it would be the simple fact that it was something new; a fresh start.

Glowing in the dark...

Everybody has one of those songs that just sends positive vibes through them. 

The beauty of music. It makes me smile from ear to ear.

4.8.12

Lose it

If you follow the adventures of Brendan Kergin and myself on Threat Shark, chances are you have heard me rave about Austra on the air, or you've read me raving about them in the summer edition of Threat Shark.

The moral of the story is...

Austra is amazing.

29.7.12

Pick up the phone

Last night while strolling through the streets of Toronto, I pulled out my phone to discover something interesting...

The "toughest law in journalism..."

21.7.12

Against the wind

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to have my own turntable and start building a vinyl collection. Unfortunately, I could never quite justify forking over the money required to buy my own new shiny record player.

In the past week, my dad was kind enough to pass on his old turntable to me.

17.7.12

Home is where my feet are...

As is usually the case when I'm inspired to write something less than poetic, I'm inspired by a song that randomly comes across my airwaves. Tonight, was an old favourite.

14.7.12

5.7.12

Heart's all gone

Humans are selfish. I think that goes without saying. We all are and I would challenge you to argue otherwise. 

Sure we all have moments where we "give" to varying degrees. But more often than not, we take, take, take.

4.7.12

Ghost in the machine

I find it funny how people try to run from issues without dealing with them.

I'm just as guilty as any one else.

Eventually things like that will come back to haunt you.

2.7.12

No surrender

The other day I was having this conversation with someone who I am in the early stages of getting to know.

Everyone has their quirks, oddities, weird tendencies, etc etc. You get my point. While I know I have my own weird little tendencies, some along the lines of obsessive compulsion, there is one that I've just become aware of that I previously didn't even think about until recently.

17.6.12

Paradise

Been diggin' this song ever since the end of the Stanley Cup final. 

It's also possible that it's what inspired me to change the photo at the top of my blog. I've always thought of the Rocky Mountains as a certain kind of paradise. They are probably what I miss most from out west.

All I want...

Chillin' on a cool Sunday night here in TO. Less than two weeks left in my stay here in the "Centre of the Universe."


Crazy to look back and think of how quickly it has all come and gone. 

10.6.12

Agent Zero

Life is always changing. It doesn't matter who you are, where you are or what you are doing. Whether you realize it or not, your life is changing, even if in the most minuscule way. 

Where u goin?

I bought the Arkells' first album, Jackson Square on a hunch. I really didn't know anything about the band or the album other than the fact that they were Canadian and supposedly worth listening to. Not much to work with.

2.6.12

Into the dark

I've never really been a huge fan of Death Cab for Cutie. In fact, until I heard this cover of what is arguably one of their most widely known tracks, I really hadn't listened to them at all. After hearing the cover, I figured that I should probably do my best to give Death Cab at least a little bit of my time. I was pleasantly surprised.

29.5.12

Darling, darling, darling

In a slight extension of an earlier post that I fired up on Threat Shark today, I would like to take a moment to recognize the latest Canadian folk artist that has struck a chord with me.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you, Corey Isenor.

24.5.12

Iridescent

I'm not going to lie, Linkin Park was a favourite of mine early on in my teenage years. That being said, like a number of other bands, I still keep up with them but don't spend nearly as much time listening to their newer stuff.

22.5.12

Meanwhile, back in Radioland...

Once upon a time, I had a radio show back in Kamloops, B.C.

My co-host and I played rockin' indie and alternative, with the occasional splash of hip hop, bubble gum pop and other fun tunes.

Unfortunately, with both of us living on opposite sides of this beautiful country (he is in Victoria; I am in Toronto) it became a bit difficult for us to continue our on-air shenanigans through the summer.

19.5.12

In the throes of young love

I walked into a Subway sandwich shop late this evening...

I bet that isn't how you expected this to start.

14.5.12

Ghost town stories

I'm getting increasingly worse at blogging! This is something that I do not like and hope to correct.

Really I have no excuse to not blog right now. I'm all settled in to my Toronto dorm, I'm working five days a week and at the end of each night I come home just to hang out in my room and watch hockey.

22.4.12

When the ice breaks

I sit here on Apr. 22, realizing that I haven't posted anything since the first week of the month.

I figured I should probably fire something up because, well, I enjoy writing and it has been far too long since I wrote anything here and that is just a damn shame.

I've survived the first year of my two-year bachelor of journalism program at TRU...barely. Does that mean I didn't enjoy it? Absolutely not. I loved every second of it.

1.4.12

30.3.12

Precious and short moments

His physical appearance only scratched the surface of the mystery, adventure and tall tales that existed within his weathered mind;

Glory, victory, the moment

Time on the clock is winding down. It is the third period. The scoreboard reads 1-1. It is game seven of the championship. The pressure is mounting.

Moment of surrender

Not my favourite U2 track ever, but I'm diggin' it right now.

23.3.12

Stay lucky

The last few days I've had this song cranked in the car, in the house, on the deck and in the headphones.

22.3.12

Asleep to an Album - Cities

In an effort to re-engage myself with the vastness of my music library, I am going to start listening to one album a night, progressing each night down the alphabet. I will post a little information about the album along with my favourite track.

Tonight, "C" steps up to the plate and Anberlin's Cities is my album of choice. The Unwinding Cable Car is the song that is hitting home for me tonight.

21.3.12

Asleep to an Album - Bringing Down the Horse

In an effort to re-engage myself with the vastness of my music library, I am going to start listening to one album a night, progressing each night down the alphabet. I will post a little information about the album along with my favourite track.

Tonight, "B" is on the docket and The Wallflower's Bringing Down the Horse is my album of choice. Angel On My Bike is my go to song from Bringing Down the Horse.

20.3.12

Asleep to an Album - Achtung Baby

In an effort to re-engage myself with the vastness of my music library, I am going to start listening to one album a night, progressing each night down the alphabet. I will post a little information about the album along with my favourite track.

Being the first night, "A" is on the docket and U2's Achtung Baby is my album of choice. My favourite song... none other than One.

1.3.12

My beautiful girl

Three years ago today I met one of the most amazing people who I have ever been privileged to spend time with. 

27.2.12

Lullaby...

Matthew Good is without a doubt my favourite Canadian artist. I have come to this conclusion based solely on the fact that over the past two years he has become my go-to selection for music whenever I'm in a weird mood or funk. 

I've been listening to Good's 2003 album Avalanche quite a lot lately. It is tough to believe that this album was released nearly 10 years ago.


Lullaby for the New World Order has stood out as one of my favourite tracks off the album. The section that I particularly love in this song is "somebody gave you a choice / and all you do is abuse it / if God he gave you a voice / then use it." Something about that just rings home for me. It's something that I hope other people take to heart as well. There are far too many people in this world with beautiful voices, thoughts, ideas and opinions who sit in silence. You have a voice for a reason. Use it. If you don't use it, chances are later in life you will regret having been so quiet.

26.2.12

Weaving a tale...

I just finished working on another modelling assignment for a writing class I am currently enrolled in. This time around, I was struggling to come up with a unique topic from my own experiences to use as material for this model. With my trusty iPod at my side, I was struck with a curious idea. Why not try to string together a story using various song lyrics from the discography of one of my favourite artists?

15.2.12

Threat Shark Lost Tracks Vol. I

When doing the programming for Threat Shark, Kergin and I often run into one consistent problem: we have far too many great tracks that we want to play and not enough time to play them all. As a result, we often end up cutting some amazing selections. Depending on the week, sometimes he leaves rattled and other weeks it is me who is choked that I didn't get to play "my track."

Long time ago...

I've had a lot of old memories stroll through my mind as of late, some great, others not so much. Regardless, memories are what they are and those experiences helped to shape who I am today. I am a firm believer in that.

8.2.12

Summertime

I know it is only February, but I'm going to tell you a few reasons why I am currently longing for summer.

North Star

Recently I have found a place in my music collection for Canadian folk band The Rural Alberta Advantage. 

The only complaint I have about this band is that it was not brought to my attention earlier.

Music mends...

When I'm stressed I like to find a good set of tunes and just slip away while enjoying the peaceful melodies or relaxing piano track.

Music is a powerful vehicle.

6.2.12

Time flies when you're having fun

Holy smokes, it is February kids! What happened to January?! What happened to 2011??? I am getting old and it is happening way too fast for my liking these days.

31.1.12

Untitled poem for my father

I'm not going to claim to be a poet, or know the next thing there is to know about poetry. To be honest, I just had an idea, a feeling, an emotion and I ran with it. This is the result:

This is a poem for my father
whose advice I've ignored numerous
     times

Where to go...what to do...how to do it?

I had goals, but no way to achieve, visions but no plans, dreams but no passions.

Needs employment...

I am tired of sleepless nights, stress, constraints
Frustrated within the confines of the classroom.

Always improve...

Today in class we were working on utilizing different writing techniques and styles. This is commonly known as "modelling" and is good practice for helping a writer to find his/her voice.

The next few posts you see from me will be examples of modelling. My own little personal pieces that came out as a result of our work in class today.

28.1.12

Jack of all trades

Earlier this week I was hired as the roving editor of my campus's student newspaper, The Omega. First off, I feel extremely lucky to have been successful as I was in the running against an extremely versatile and talented group of applicants.

In my first week on the job, I was given three very different assignments: dodgeball, hip-hop music and food bank services.

23.1.12

Poor prof...

The professor stood at the front of the room. Speaking to the class, he wondered aloud if his words had fallen on deaf ears.

How to win friends and influence people

For anyone following my Twitter feed, you already have gotten a taste of what I am about to rant on.

Usually I don't like to rant. I try to be a positive person. Looking on the bright side of things is so much more enjoyable than being bitter and irritated with the world.

But some days bitter is the only way to feel.

20.1.12

January 19, 2012

Tonight I heard someone inspire me. Tonight I heard stories that made me want to make a difference. Tonight I realized why I was born to be a storyteller.

18.1.12

What's Gotye?

It might sound like some sort of weird cheese, but let me reassure you... it is much better than that. The question is not, "what is Gotye?" It should actually be, "who is Gotye?"

17.1.12

Great covers are hard to come by

Cover songs are always worth a listen. Sometimes they are so good that most people mistake them for being the original recording. Take Johnny Cash's Hurt. It was a cover of a Nine Inch Nails original written by Trent Reznor.

More often than not a cover song is also very forgettable. If you are lucky enough, you find yourself a cover that simply does justice to the original piece.

16.1.12

The General

I have gotten away from sharing my musical musings with all of you (by all of you I am referring to the...three or so people who probably read this). 

What I've got here is a song that I discovered while still back in high school. An old high school friend of mine made me a random mix CD one day and included this track on it. It may have been my favourite song on that mix CD because I still listen to it and love it today!

Procrastination station and immune system conditioning coaches

Well folks, I am home.

Home from Hope. Safe in Kamloops. Warm and cozy in my nice little den.

As per the title, I am currently procrastinating from writing a short personal essay that is due tomorrow in class. I feel it reasonable that I procrastinate from doing this as I am actually banned from going to class tomorrow. And the next day. And possibly the day after that.

15.1.12

Archipelago's arch-nemesis

Eight student newspaper delegates. One national conference. One gross virus. This is my perspective of a weekend that truly had it all.